Hayley is in her mid-30s and has Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder (EUPD) - a psychiatric condition which can cause fluctuations in mood, and which affects how an individual interacts with and relates to others. Over the last few years, she has experienced some very emotionally challenging situations, relating to her children and children's services.

Hayley attempted to end her life. She was admitted to hospital and after making a good physical recovery, Hayley was detained under section two of the mental health act and moved to an acute mental health ward. She remained in hospital for just over a week before being discharged despite telling the Responsible Clinician (RC) that she continued to have suicidal ideation. She asked the RC if she could be put on a mood stabiliser, but he said that he was not prepared to change her medication.

Less than 24 hours after her discharge, Hayley made a further attempt to end her life. As before, she was taken to the hospital where she made a physical recovery. She was then detained under section 2 of the mental health act and transferred to the acute mental health ward again.

Natalie, a POhWER IMHA, met with Hayley on the mental health ward and Hayley told her that she had already seen the RC and he had suggested that he would be discharging her again in a weeks’ time. Hayley told Natalie that she was very worried about this. She was still feeling suicidal and she was prepared to make a further attempt to take her life. She talked to Natalie about how she was feeling, particularly regarding the situation with her children. Natalie suggested that she raise Hayley’s concerns with her manager as she felt that the situation could lead to a further unsafe discharge, Hayley gave her verbal consent for Natalie to do this.

Natalie completed an incident report and submitted it to her manager. She then had a meeting with her manager and two senior members of staff, who all agreed that she should raise a safeguarding if Hayley consented. 

Natalie visited Hayley again on the ward and she gave her verbal consent for Natalie to raise a safeguarding with the local authority and the NHS, which Natalie did straight away.

A social worker contacted Natalie to discuss her concerns. The social worker asked for Hayley's contact details, which Natalie was able to share after she gained consent from Hayley to do so.

The social worker attended a ward review with Hayley and the RC continued with his plan of discharging Hayley. Natalie found out about this after it happened and was therefore not able to support.

Hayley then made a third attempt to end her life, she was admitted to the hospital and again she made a good physical recovery and was detained under section 2 of the mental health act and transferred to the acute mental health ward.

Natasha met with Hayley again and supported her to attend her ward review, where Natasha raised Hayley’s concerns on her behalf. The RC committed to reviewing her medication and did not plan on discharging her so quickly this time. Natasha then supported Hayley at her next review, where Hayley was supported to discuss starting a new medication. 

Hayley started taking the new medication, and this was increased at a further ward review. The RC stated they will continue to review how this medication is impacting on Hayley and will not make plans to discharge her as yet.

Hayley is feeling more positive about how the RC and the ward are supporting her and is thankful that her concerns and feelings are now being heard and taken into consideration by the people in charge of her care.

Support 

If you have been affected by any of the content in this story or would like to talk to someone about how you are feeling you can contact: 

• Samaritans – they are available any time day or night. Call on 116 123. 
• Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) – they are available from 5pm to midnight. Call on 0800 58 58 58 or visit The Calm Zone Website to access their live chat. 

Both services are Free, Confidential and Anonymous